Labour advocates have long complained that international trade agreements are driven by corporate agendas and pay little attention to the interests of working people. The preamble of the World Trade Organization agreement mentions the objective …
Articles by: "Dani Rodrik"
Defying common sense as well as business and financial elites, US President Donald Trump seems to relish the prospect of a trade war. On 6 July, his latest trade restrictions—25% tariffs on about US$34 billion …
When Italy’s president recently vetoed the appointment of the Eurosceptic Paolo Savona as finance minister in the government proposed by the Five Star Movement–League party alliance, did he safeguard or undermine his country’s democracy? Beyond …
A high-profile United States trade delegation appears to have returned empty-handed from its mission in China. The result is hardly a surprise, given the scale and one-sided nature of the US demands. The Americans pushed for …
Why were democratic political systems not responsive early enough to the grievances that autocratic populists have successfully exploited—inequality and economic anxiety, decline of perceived social status, the chasm between elites and ordinary citizens? Had political …
US President Donald Trump’s bark on trade policy has so far been far worse than his bite. But this may be changing. In January, he raised tariffs on imported washing machines and solar cells. Now, …
The crisis of liberal democracy is roundly decried today. Donald Trump’s presidency, the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and the electoral rise of other populists in Europe have underscored the threat posed by ‘illiberal …
Populists abhor restraints on the political executive. Since they claim to represent ‘the people’ writ large, they regard limits on their exercise of power as necessarily undermining the popular will. Such constraints can only serve …
At a recent conference I attended, I was seated next to a prominent American trade policy expert. We began to talk about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which President Donald Trump has blamed …
Despite low world prices for the commodities on which they tend to depend, many of the world’s poorest economies have been doing well. Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth has slowed precipitously since 2015, but this reflects …
This year’s G20 summit in Hamburg promises to be among the more interesting in recent years. For one thing, US President Donald Trump, who treats multilateralism and international cooperation with cherished disdain, will be attending …
Emmanuel Macron’s victory over Marine Le Pen was much-needed good news for anyone who favors open, liberal democratic societies over their nativist, xenophobic counterparts. But the battle against right-wing populism is far from won. Le …